EEV.  MR.  ADAMS'S  SERMON. 


OCCASIONED  BY  THE  DEATH  OF 


REV.  WILLIAM  J.  ARMSTRONG,  D.  D, 


SERMON, 

OCCASIONED  BY  THE  DEATH  OF 

EEV.  WILLIAM  J.  AEMSTRONG,  D.  D., 

DELIVERED  IN 

PARK  STREET  CHURCH,  BOSTOI, 


DECEMBER  9,  1846. 


BY  NEHEMIAH  ADAMS, 

Pastor  of  Esses  Street  Churcli. 


BOSTON: 

PRESS  OF  T.  R.  MARVIN,  24  CONGRESS  STREET, 

1846. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Prudential  Committee,  held  at  the  Missionary 
House,  December  15,  1846,  the  following  Resolution  was  adopted  ; 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Committee  be  tendered  to  the  Rev. 
Nehemiah  Adams  for  his  appropriate  discourse  delivered  on  Wednesday 
Evening  last,  on  occasion  of  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  William  J. 
Armstrong,  D.  D.,  late  one  of  the  Corresponding  Secretaries  of  the  Board, 
and  that  he  be  requested  to  furnish  a  copy  of  the  same  for  publication." 


S  E  E  M  0  N. 


Psalm  cxvi.  15. 

PRECIOUS  IN  THE  SIGHT  OF  THE  LORD  IS  THE  DEATH  OF  HIS  SAINTS. 

The  journey  begun  by  our  friend  and  brother, 
in  health  and  with  pleasant  anticipations,  has  been 
completed  on  the  bier.  The  funeral  rites  have  been 
performed  in  another  city.  He  has  lain  down,  "  till 
the  heavens  be  no  more."  His  companions  in  death 
are  distributed  to  their  last  resting  places.  The 
storm  is  hushed.  The  fragments  of  the  wreck  are 
disappearing.  I  was  prepared  to  say,  the  wind  and 
waves  no  longer  toll  the  bell  which  for  several  days 
was  lifted  above  the  waters  on  a  portion  of  the 
wreck;  but  I  learn  this  evening  that  the  bell, 
though  sunk  beneath  the  surface,  is  now  and  then 
urged  up  by  the  swell  of  the  sea,  and  thus  imitating, 
as  it  were,  the  expiring  efforts  of  the  dying,  tolls 
with  a  convulsive  stroke.  The  full  moon  has  many 
times  walked  in  brightness  over  the  scene  of  deso- 
lation, where  the  equal  pulses  of  the  sea  now  seem 
to  deny  the  well  known  agony  and  ruin. 

N.^  DETROIT 

EXCIMNGE  DUPLICATE 


4 


All  the  incidents  of  the  disaster  have  been  spread 
far  and  wide  and  have  produced  their  impression 
upon  the  public  mind,  which  is  soon  to  be  occupied 
with  other  events  of  various  importance,  while  this 
will  take  its  place  among  the  historical  facts  which 
are  repeated  with  an  interest  lessening  from  day  to 
day  with  the  lapse  of  time.  To  many  here  and 
elsewhere,  however,  it  will  never  lose  its  interest 
while  life  remains  ;  the  impressions  made  by  it  will 
be  identified  with  their  inmost  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings ;  and  in  their  characters  and  conduct  its  sacred 
influence  will  be  felt  to  their  dying  day. 

We  come  together  at  a  time  far  enough  removed 
from  the  event  to  admit  of  calm  contemplation  and 
reflection,  and  not  far  enough  for  any  of  us  to  have 
lost  the  vivid  impressions  at  first  made  by  it. 

We  all  feel  the  need  of  soothing  and  consolatory 
thoughts,  and  the  natural  desire  to  know  the  facts 
in  the  case  has  been  fully  satisfied.  The  official 
relation  of  our  friend  and  brother  to  the  Missionary 
House  in  this  city  gives  a  propriety  to  this  public 
memorial  of  him,  which  our  private  love  for  him, 
and  our  disposition  to  do  him  honor,  are  happy  to 
acknowledge  and  improve.  The  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect  need  no  earthly  honor  to  secure  for 
them  any  happiness  or  reward ;  yet  it  cannot  be  a 
matter  of  indifference  to  a  good  man  in  heaven  to 
know  that  surviving  companions  and  fellow  servants 
appreciate  his  character  and  his  services,  and  that 
*  devout  men  carry  him  to  his  burial  and  make  great 
lamentation  over  him.' 


6 


A  common  ruin  buried  this  servant  of  Christ,  and 
forty  or  fifty  others,  in  instant  death.  He  was 
distinguished  among  them  by  his  ministerial  office, 
by  his  pious  endeavors  to  instruct  them  in  the  time 
of  peril,  and  by  his  most  fervent  and  affecting 
supplications,  and  by  the  impressiveness  of  his 
demeanor  during  the  v^^hole  trying  scene.  But  the 
God  whom  he  served,  and  whom  he  delighted  to 
honor,  did  not  interpose  to  distinguish  him  from 
his  companions  by  any  apparent  alleviation  in  his 
sufferings  or  in  the  manner  of  his  death.  A  portion 
of  the  deck  fell  upon  him  and  upon  many  others 
with  him.  Who  could  have  told  at  that  moment 
by  any  sign  which  the  accident  conveyed,  which 
of  them  feared  God, — if  any  of  them  did  not  ? 
"  This  is  one  thing,  therefore  I  said  it.  He  destroy- 
eth  the  perfect  and  the  wicked."  In  calamities,  the 
impression  would  be  made  upon  the  mind,  were  it 
not  for  faith,  that  God  disregards  his  servants  when 
he  mingles  them  in  a  promiscuous  overthrow.  He 
suffers  the  sea  to  destroy  them,  or  the  falling  weight 
to  crush  them,  or  the  cannibal  savage  to  devour 
them,  and  does  not  come  forth  to  arrest  any  law  of 
nature,  or  do  any  special  favor  in  their  behalf.  If 
we  sometimes  see  good  men  rescued  by  a  special 
interposition  of  Providence,  we  see  the  same  in  the 
case  of  wicked  men ;  and  if  we  see  wicked  men 
arrested  by  death  on  their  way  to  their  families,  we 
see  the  same  in  the  experience  of  eminently  good 
men. 

No  one  has  ever   lost  a  friend  by  a  sudden 


6 


calamity,  especially  a  friend  who  was  known  and 
loved  as  a  good  man,  without  having  his  feelings 
and  his  faith  somewhat  tried  by  the  seeming 
disregard  in  Providence  of  the  circumstances 
attending  the  loss  of  life.  There  is  a  natural 
expectation  that  God  will  shield  the  person  of  an 
eminently  good  man  from  indignity ;  that  there  will 
be  some  special  mark  of  regard  in  the  manner  in 
which,  if  his  life  must  be  destroyed,  he  will  receive 
the  fatal  stroke.  We  invest  the  laws  of  nature 
with  something  of  our  own  feelings  of  reverence  for 
the  persons  of  those  whom  we  respect  and  love. 
We  almost  expect  to  see,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
the  same  regard  for  them. 

There  is  a  striking  illustration,  however,  of  the 
opposite  procedure  at  times,  in  divine  Providence,  in 
the  death  of  John  the  Baptist.  It  would  have  been 
natural  to  expect  that  such  a  man  as  the  forerunner 
of  Christ  would  be  honored,  if  not  by  a  translation 
to  heaven,  at  least  with  a  death  like  that  of  Moses 
in  the  arms  of  his  God,  or  like  that  of  Aaron  upon 
Mount  Hor.  Instead  of  this,  he  is  cast  into  a 
prison,  and  a  wicked  king,  at  the  suggestion  of  a 
vile  woman,  and  through  the  effect  which  a  dancer 
produced  upon  him,  sends  with  summary  haste  to  the 
prison  to  have  the  head  of  that  Elijah  brought  in ; 
and  straightway  his  head  is  in  a  charger,  and  the 
damsel  delivers  it  to  her  mother.  There  is  more 
implied  than  is  expressed  when  it  is  added,  ''And 
his  disciples  took  up  his  body  and  buried  it,  and 
went  and  told  Jesus.''''    They  might  have  repeated 


7 


on  such  an  occasion,  with  great  pertinency,  the 
words  of  the  thoughtful  and  complaining  Ecclesias- 
tes, — "  There  is  no  remembrance  of  the  wise  man 
more  than  of  the  fool  forever.  And  how  dieth  the 
wise  man  ?    As  the  fool." 

There  are  times,  indeed,  when  the  manner  of  a 
good  man's  death  has  something  of  beauty  or  sub- 
limity or  of  peculiar  fitness,  no  less  noticeable  than 
the  well  known  coincidence  in  the  death  of  two 
Presidents  of  the  United  States  upon  the  anniver- 
sary of  our  national  independence.  While  it  is  the 
general  law  of  Providence  that  one  event  happens 
to  the  righteous  and  to  the  wicked,  the  sovereignty 
of  God  makes  exceptions  to  it,  in  certain  cases, 
in  favor  of  good  men.  We  are  not  to  expect 
them  so  as  to  feel  disappointed  when  they  do  not 
occur  ;  nor,  when  a  good  man  dies,  like  John  the 
Baptist,  with  no  sign  of  special  regard  for  him  or 
the  manner  of  his  death,  are  we  to  conclude  that  he 
is  less  an  object  of  divine  favor  than  another.  We 
bow  with  reverence  and  awe  before  that  appoint- 
ment of  divine  Providence  by  which  the  laws  of 
nature  fulfil  their  commission  without  respect  of 
persons,  teaching  us  impressively  the  truth  revealed 
in  Scripture,  that  life  is  a  scene  of  trial  and  of 
reward  ;  that  we  are  not  to  expect  the  divine  testi- 
mony in  our  behalf  by  any  remarkable  providence  ; 
but  in  the  exercise  of  faith,  our  hope  reaching  to 
that  which  is  within  the  vail,  we  must  meekly  bow 
to  the  common  lot  of  man  in  the  outward  circum- 
stances of  providential  events,  though  by  them  we 


8 


may  make   our  grave  with  the  wicked,  and  be 

numbered  with  the  transgressors." 

The  inference,  however,  which  might  be  drawn 
from  such  an  undistinguished  end,  is  contradicted 
by  the  word  of  God.  The  seeming  neglect  of  good 
men  at  such  times,  and  the  apparent  want  of  re- 
gard for  them  in  some  of  the  events  of  Providence 
has  no  foundation  in  fact.  At  all  times,  under  all 
circumstances,  and  when  there  is  the  least  apparent 
interposition  of  heaven  in  their  behalf,  "  Precious 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the  death  of  his 
saints." 

Though  hunger  and  cold  and  fear,  and  sad 
thoughts  about  the  family  circle,  and  the  painfulness 
of  spending  a  festival  day^  amid  the  perils  of  a 
wreck,  the  violent  winds  and  waves,  and  finally  the 
falling  deck,  and  the  engulphing  waters,  indicated 
no  regard  to  the  man  of  God  more  than  to  any 
other,  yet  his  death  was  an  event  of  interest  and 
importance  in  the  sight  of  the  Most  High. 

The  text  asserts  this  general  truth :  The  death 

OF  GOOD  MEN,  UNDER  ALL  CIRCUMSTANCES,  IS 
DEEPLY   INTERESTING  IN  THE   SIGHT  OF  GoD. 

Among  the  multitude  of  deaths,  their  death,  like 
a  valuable  thing  in  a  promiscuous  heap,  is  precious 
to  Him.  It  is  not  forgotten  nor  disregarded  as  an 
ordinary  event ;  it  is  invested  with  peculiar  interest 
in  the  sight  of  God.  A  few  considerations  will 
illustrate  this  truth. 


*  The  day  of  the  Annual  Thanksgiving  in  New  York  and  sixteen 
other  States. 


9 


1 .  The  death  of  a  good  man  is  a  great  and  impor- 
tant event  in  the  history  of  his  redemption, 

God  chose  him  in  Christ  before  the  world  was. 
He  called  him  bj  his  special  grace  into  his  king- 
dom; he  applied  to  him  the  benefits  of  the  Saviour's 
death  ;  he  sealed  him  bj  the  Holj  Spirit ;  he  has 
made  all  things  thus  far  work  together  for  his  good. 
That  saint  is  to  be  among  the  fruits  of  the  Saviour's 
sufferings  and  death  ;  his  salvation  is  a  necessary 
part  of  the  great  work  of  redemption.  When  pro- 
bation with  him  is  about  to  end,  can  it  be  a  less 
interesting  event  to  the  Most  High,  than  the  event 
of  his  conversion  on  which  God  bestowed  that 
mighty  power "  which  the  Apostle  compares  to 
that  "  which  he  wrought  in  Christ,  when  he  raised 
him  from  the  dead,  and  set  him  at  his  own  right 
hand  in  heavenly  places  ?  "  The  husbandman  who 
planted  the  tree,  and  dressed  it,  and  watched  it, 
comes  for  the  fruit ;  although  the  fruit  be  gathered 
by  shaking  the  tree,  he  is  not  angry  with  the  tree, 
nor  neglectful  of  the  fruit  which  he  causes  to 
fall. 

"  How  precious  are  thy  thoughts  towards  us,  O 
God ;  how  great  is  the  sum  of  them !  "  What 
peculiar  blessings,  suited  to  peculiar  wants,  we  have 
enjoyed  ;  what  adaptedness  there  has  been  in  thy 
dealings  with  us  to  our  circumstances.  We  have 
never  been  forgotten ;  at  times  we  have  been 
specially  remembered,  and  have  been  made  to  feel 
it.  Is  this  thy  common  providence  ?  And  in  that 
tremendous  hour,  when  we  need  thy  presence  most, 
2 


10 


and  thy  thoughts  should  be  peculiarly  precious 
towards  us,  can  it  be  that  God  will  forget  us  ?  In 
all  the  earthly  history  of  his  people  there  can  be, 
there  is,  nothing  more  precious  in  the  sight  of  God 
than  their  death. 

2.  The  death  of  a  good  man  is  precious  in  the 
sight  of  God,  because  the  life  of  such  a  man  is  inti- 
mately connected  loith  the  interests  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  in  this  ivorld. 

To  every  servant  God  has  committed  a  trust ; 
from  every  servant  who  deserves  the  name,  the 
cause  of  God  in  this  world  receives  advantage. 
Some  are  put  in  trust  with  children  to  educate  for 
future  usefulness.  Others  are  placed  in  a  circle  of 
relatives  and  friends  for  an  example  and  a  reproof, 
and  as  silent  witnesses  for  God.  They  keep  the 
consciences  of  others  awake  ;  they  serve  as  a  stand- 
ard by  which  others  judge  of  propriety  and  impro- 
priety in  their  own  conduct.  Others  are  placed  in 
situations  where  it  seems  as  though  they  could  do 
nothing  but  pray ;  their  prayers,  however,  are 
essential  to  the  purposes  of  God. 

Others  occupy  places  of  more  obvious  influence 
and  importance  ;  but  to  every  real  servant  of  God 
in  this  world,  there  is  committed  some  trust.  He 
may  be  only  like  a  single  stone  in  a  wall ;  its  pres- 
ence is  not  remarked  upon,  but  its  absence  would 
be  ;  and  its  removal,  therefore,  becomes  an  important 
event.  He  who  orders  every  thing  in  this  world  as 
head  over  all  things  to  his  church,  does  not  suffer  his 
faithful  servants  to  die  by  chance  ;  their  removal  is 


11 


an  event  of  too  much  importance  to  be  left  without 
special  care  and  appointment ;  it  is  to  be  considered 
in  each  case  whether  this  good  example  may  safely 
be  removed,  or  that  restraining  influence  over  others 
cease,  or  those  prayers  be  suspended  ;  whether  the 
interests  of  large  bodies  of  men,  and  the  general 
affairs  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  will  permit  the 
removal  of  one  servant  of  God  and  another,  at  par- 
ticular times.    Christ    has  the  keys  of  death." 

"  A  Christian  cannot  die  before  his  time, 
The  Lord's  appointment  is  the  servant's  hour." 

3.  The  immediate  effect  of  the  affliction  vpon 
survivors  carinot  but  render  the  death  of  a  good  man 
precious  in  the  sight  of  God, 

I  see  the  tents  of  Israel  in  affliction.  The  bell 
which  survived  on  the  wreck,  tolling  the  knell  of 
the  dead,  seems  as  though  it  had  received  a  special 
commission  to  utter  the  feelings  of  the  whole  church 
of  God  in  this  land.  God  never  does  any  thing, 
however  dark  and  trying,  which  diminishes  the 
confidence  and  love  of  his  true  children.  The  man 
who  should  wantonly  do  a  deed  that  would  plunge 
the  whole  people  of  God  into  sorrow,  it  would  have 
been  better  for  him  if  he  had  never  been  born.  A 
paper  dropped  at  the  door  by  the  carrier,  containing 
an  account  of  the  "  wreck  of  the  Atlantic,"  gives 
the  first  intimation  to  his  household  respecting  the 
possible  fate  of  the  husband  and  father.  With  every 
support  which  God  affords  the  mind  at  such  a 
moment,  there  is  of  course  a  degree   of  anguish 


12 


which  He,  who  "  does  not  willingly  afflict  nor 
grieve  the  children  of  men,"  would  not  permit 
without  special  consideration,  and  for  wise  and 
benevolent  purposes. 

I  look  away  from  the  dwelling  where  the 
messenger  conveys  to  that  family  the  intelligence 
which  is  to  clothe  them  in  sackcloth.  I  cannot  trust 
myself  to  hear  that  burst  of  grief  as  one  member  of 
the  household  after  another  receives  the  tidings  ;  I 
cannot  even  think  of  the  scene  with  composure. 
But  God  knew  beforehand  how  it  would  break  the 
heart ;  he  had  written  beforehand  all  those  tears  in 
his  book.  The  death  of  that  saint,  bringing  such 
an  effect  with  it,  must  have  been  precious  in  the 
sight  of  God.  He  is  the  father  of  the  fatherless, 
and  the  widow's  God  and  Judge.  He  knew  how 
it  would  afflict  and  grieve  multitudes  of  his  people  ; 
it  must  have  been  appointed,  therefore,  and  fulfilled 
by  him  with  a  consideration  which  an  event  so 
important  for  its  immediate  and  its  future  influence 
on  near  and  dear  relatives  and  friends,  required. 
Faith  sees  the  guardian  hand  of  God  in  the 
promiscuous  ruin ;  the  good  man  among  the  victims 
of  the  falling  deck  is  not  like  one  of  an  uncounted 
flock ;  the  rude  blow,  and  the  reckless  surge,  and 
the  sands  hastening  to  entomb  him,  are  not  the  true 
exponents  of  the  feelings  of  the  ^[ost  High  at  such 
an  event.  But  "  precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord 
is  the  death  of  his  saints,"  and  precious  shall  their 
blood  be  in  his  sight,"  if  for  no  other  reason,  because 
He  considers  and  appreciates  the  feelings  of  those 


13 


who  will  be  deeply  afflicted  by  the  death  of  relatives 
and  friends. 

4.  The  death  of  good  men  is  so  commonly  a 
ineans  of  glorifying  God,  that  it  cannot  be  otherwise 
than  important  and  interesting  in  his  sight. 

Though  we  look  to  the  life  of  a  man  for  the 
evidence  of  his  goodness,  we  expect  his  death  to 
illustrate  it.  The  views  and  feelings  of  a  man 
in  that  honest  hour,  when  he  has  no  motive  to 
deceive  others,  when  he  is  expecting  soon  to  stand 
before  one  whom  he  cannot  deceive,  are  a  powerful 
testimony  to  his  private  character,  and  to  the 
sincerity  and  value  of  his  religion.  Not  to  dwell 
on  this  obvious  fact,  I  will  only  allude  to  the 
recognition  of  it  by  our  Lord,  of  whom  the  evangelist 
says,  speaking  of  the  Saviour's  intimations  to  Peter 
respecting  that  disciple's  end,  "  This  spake  he, 
signifying  by  what  death  he  should  glorify  God." 
We  know  that  the  death  of  good  men  has  ever  been 
a  powerful  means  of  good.  It  must  therefore  have 
great  importance  and  interest  in  the  sight  of  God ; 
so  that  the  time,  and  all  the  attending  circumstances 
of  it  upon  which  its  influence  so  much  depends,  are 
of  course  ordered  by  infinite  wisdom. 

Let  us  illustrate  this,  and  at  the  same  time  make 
a  profitable  use  of  it  in  the  way  of  consolation,  by 
referring  to  the  event  which  we  now  mourn.  Fears 
had  for  some  time  been  entertained  that  our  departed 
friend  would  not  long  continue  with  us.  This  was 
his  own  impression,  and  that  of  others,  owing  to 
some  alarming  symptoms.    Supposing  then  that  our 


14 


fears  with  regard  to  him  would,  in  the  course  of 
nature,  soon  have  been  fulfilled,  we  may,  without 
undertaking  to  interpret  the  purposes  and  providence 
of  God,  see  reasons  to  believe  that  the  event  of  his 
death  was,  in  the  sense  explained,  precious  in  his 
sight 

For,  in  the  first  place,  he  was  spared  the  pain  of 
a  lingering  illness,  in  which  bodily  suffering  would 
not  have  been  so  hard  for  such  a  man  as  he  to  bear, 
as  the  suspension  of  his  labors. 

Again,  he  was  made  the  instrument  of  religious 
consolation,  and  it  may  be  of  salvation,  to  a  num- 
ber of  his  fellow  creatures,  in  the  hour  of  peril. 
The  survivors  will  remember  his  exhortations  and 
prayers  so  long  as  they  remember  their  deliverance. 
Will  they,  can  they,  neglect  such  a  salvation,  and 
finally  perish  ?  Most  of  those  who  were  near  him 
when  the  deck  fell,  it  is  supposed,  perished  as  he 
did,  at  once,  by  the  blow.  He  had  knelt  in  prayer 
with  them  and  others,  and  before  praying,  requested 
them  to  remain  upon  their  knees  a  few  moments 
after  his  prayer  should  be  finished.  Perhaps  in  those 
moments  of  silent  prayer,  amid  the  howling  of  the 
wind  and  waves,  and  the  violent  motion  of  the  ship, 
the  words  of  Scripture  (Mark  iv.  35 — 41)  which 
he  had  just  read,  in  which  the  Saviour  says  to  the 
stormy  wind,  "  Peace,  be  still,"  had  a  fulfilment  in 
the  presence  of  the  Redeemer  with  his  converting 
grace  ;  and  from  that  scene  of  ruin  and  death  some 
souls  with  him  may  havie  immediately  passed  into 
heaven.    Had  he  preached  a  sermon  from  a  pulpit 


15 


which  God  should  have  blessed  to  the  instant 
conversion  of  a  few  souls,  we  should  have  looked 
upon  him  as  one  on  whom  God  had  placed  the  seal 
of  his  special  favor.  We  may  find  hereafter  that 
such  a  seal  was  placed  upon  his  last  brief 
exhortation  ;  and  it  may  be,  that  as  a  constellation 
comes  up  from  the  sea  and  takes  its  place  in  the 
firmament,  so  a  number  of  souls  rose  up  from  that 
wreck  and  took  their  place  together  in  heaven, 
while  he,  their  guiding  star,  draws  the  eyes  of 
heaven  to  him  and  to  those  who  may  have  been 
saved  by  him  ;  for  indeed  he  has  turned  many  to 
righteousness,  and  will  shine  as  the  stars  forever 
and  ever.  We  fear  to  say  a  word  which  may  pos- 
sibly encourage  late  repentance  ;  yet  we  cannot 
limit  the  grace  of  God.  Jn  view  of  his  known 
usefulness,  and  of  the  influence  which  he  may 
have  exerted  in  the  salvation  cf  some,  we  can  say 
with  truth  that  such  a  death  as  his,  in  the  sense 
already  explained,  is  precious  in  the  sight  of 
God. 

But  this  is  not  all.  Throughout  the  large  district 
of  country  over  which  his  recent  labors  have 
extended,  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  find  the 
man  whose  death,  under  similar  circumstances,  would 
have  produced  a  deeper  sensation.  The  reason 
is,  he  had  established  himself  in  the  affections  of 
good  men,  as  an  eminently  pious,  simple-hearted, 
devoted  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  whom  the 
cause  of  human  salvation,  the  spread  of  the  gospel 
through  the  world,  was  dearer  than  all  earthly  com- 


16 


fort,  and  even  than  life.  We  may  say,  with 
reverence  and  submission,  it  seems  to  have  been 
important  by  what  death  "  such  a  man  "  should 
glorify  God." 

It  is  not  presumption  then,  to  say  that  we  see 
divine  wisdom  and  care  in  the  manner  of  his  death. 
To  all  the  churches  of  the  land,  wherever  his  influ- 
ence has  been  felt,  and  indeed  to  every  Christian 
in  this  and  in  all  lands  who  has  ever  heard  of  him, 
or  may  hear  of  his  death,  he  preaches,  and  will  con- 
tinue to  preach,  a  sermon  on  the  subject  of  missions 
whose  influence  cannot  fail  to  be  felt.  Seldom 
does  God  set  a  man  in  such  a  pulpit.  In  the  full 
exercise  of  his  missionary  and  ministerial  office  he 
disappears  from  our  view.  He  is  taken  up  by  a 
whirlwind  into  heaven.  Many  an  Elisha  already 
catches  his  spirit  and  power ;  and  not  only  the  sons 
of  the  prophets,  but  all  Israel,  see  and  feel  that 
the  cause  of  missions  had  a  good  man  taken  from 
its  head  that  day.  Had  he  gone  to  heaven  from 
his  peaceful  bed,  had  he  first  spent  lingering  years 
of  infirmity,  removed  from  active  labor,  the  death  of 
such  a  man  would,  at  any  time,  have  produced  a 
deep  impression ;  but  he  left  his  work  at  an  hour 
when  God  summoned  the  nation  to  look  on  and  see 
him  die.  The  fame  of  the  missionary  cause  is  lifted 
up  on  the  wings  of  the  wind.  It  is  impressed  more 
deeply  on  the  minds  of  men  through  the  power  of 
sympathy ;  they  cannot  but  regard  it  as  a  striking 
providence,  that  such  a  man  should  have  perished  in 
that  wreck,  and  seeing  the  testimony  of  survivors  to 


17 


his  excellent  goodness,  they  feel  that  God  must  have 
intended  to  honor  him  and  his  employment  by  such 
a  death.  Happy  man  !  chosen  of  God  to  stir  the 
affections  of  his  people  by  their  love  and  sympathy 
for  their  friend  and  fellov^  servant  towards  that  cause 
w^hich  w^as  his  life.  The  exhortation  is  always 
appropriate — Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God  "  ; 
but  in  this  case  we  feel  something  more  than  sub- 
mission ;  we  are  not  satisfied  at  merely  being  still ; 
we  are  disposed  to  exult  with  our  glorified  brother, 
and  to  shout.  Salvation !  Salvation  !  for  him,  and 
through  him,  instrumentally,  for  the  dying,  heathen. 
Precious,  indeed,  in  the  sight  of  God,  was  such  a 
death  !  Then  we  will  cherish  the  remembrance  of 
it,  not  so  much  to  weep  for  him,  but  to  fulfil  the 
purposes  of  God  in  it. 

William  J.  Armstrong  was  born  at  Mendham, 
New  Jersey,  October  29,  1796,  and  was  the  son  of 
the  Rev.  Amzi  Armstrong,  D.  D.  He  was  the 
eldest  of  nine  children  ;  five  of  his  six  sisters  and 
one  brother  are  now  living. 

His  parents  cherished  a  strong  desire  that  he 
should  become  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  At  the 
age  of  thirteen  he  was  ready  to  enter  college,  but 
his  constitution  was  not  robust,  and  he  therefore 
remained  at  home,  laboring  upon  a  farm,  till  his 
eighteenth  year,  by  which  means  he  acquired  great 
bodily  vigor.  In  the  autumn  of  1814  he  entered 
the  junior  class  of  the  college  at  Princeton,  then 
under  the  presidency  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Green. 
3 


18 


During  the  five  years  previous  to  his  entering  col- 
lege he  devoted  much  time  to  general  reading,  and 
alw^ays  considered  those  years  as  a  most  important 
and  influential  period  in  his  studies. 

In  youth  he  had  great  exuberance  of  feeling, 
vras  sprightly  and  joyful,  entering  w^ith  his  whole 
soul  into  the  amusements,  and  also,  as  he  frequently 
complained,  the  follies,  of  youth,  though  it  is  be- 
lieved he  contracted  no  vicious  habits.  His  first 
decided  religious  impressions  vs^ere  produced  by  a 
sermon  w^hich  his  father  preached  to  the  young 
people  of  his  charge,  w^ith  special  reference  to  his 
son.  These  impressions  were  partially  lost  for  a 
season  ;  and  his  natural  ardor  and  impetuosity  were 
so  great  that  his  father  wept  and  prayed  much  at 
the  thought  of  his  exposure  to  the  dangers  of  a 
college  life  ;  but  in  the  course  of  a  few  months, 
during  a  special  attention  to  religion  in  college,  he 
indulged  a  hope  of  acceptance  with  God.  It  is 
believed  to  be  this  attention  to  religion  at  Nassau 
Hall  which  gave  occasion  to  that  useful  tract  in 
the  series  of  the  American  Tract  Society,  called 
"  Questions  and  Counsel,"  by  Rev.  Dr.  Green. 

From  this  period  Mr.  Armstrong  looked  to  the 
sacred  ministry  as  his  profession ;  and  it  is  an  inter- 
esting and  well  authenticated  fact,  that  he  thought 
seriously  at  that  time  of  devoting  himself  to  the 
work  of  a  foreign  mission.  He  made  a  profession 
of  his  faith  in  Mendham,  in  the  spring  of  1815,  his 
beloved  father  being  thus  owned  and  blessed  of 
God  in  first  calling  his  attention  to  the  concerns 


19 

of  his  soul,  and  in  receiving  him  to  the  Christian 
church. 

He  completed  his  college  course  in  1816,  with  a 
respectable  standing  as  a  scholar.  His  father  then 
had  charge  of  a  flourishing  academy  in  Bloomfield, 
New  Jersey.  Placing  himself  under  the  care  of  a 
presbytery  as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry,  he  began 
the  study  of  theology  under  the  direction  of  his 
father,  whom  he  assisted  in  the  academy.  From 
time  to  time  he  submitted  himself  for  examination 
to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Richards,  then  a  pastor  in  Newark. 
At  the  expiration  of  two  years,  he  was  licensed  to 
preach.  He  then  spent  a  year  at  the  seminary  at 
Princeton,  preaching  on  the  Sabbath,  and  at  other 
times  as  he  had  opportunity. 

Being  thus  prepared  for  the  exercise  of  his  office, 
he  devoted  himself  to  the  work  of  home  missions, 
under  the  direction  of  the  General  Assembly's  Board. 
His  first  place  of  labor  was  Albemarle,  Virginia, 
near  the  residence  of  Thomas  Jefferson.  No  church 
existed  there  ;  the  Lord's  Supper  had  never,  so  far 
as  it  could  be  ascertained,  been  administered  in  the 
place.  Mr.  Armstrong  labored  two  years  in  Char- 
lottesville, Albemarle  county,  now  the  seat  of  the 
University  of  Virginia,  with  marked  success.  A 
Presbyterian  church  was  gathered  as  the  result  of 
his  labors,  and  it  still  flourishes.  There  were  sev- 
eral interesting  cases  of  conversion  among  infidels 
under  his  preaching,  some  of  them  the  friends  and 
associates  of  Jefferson,  who  expressed  himself  with 
some  feeling  on  hearing  of  their  conversion.  These 


20 


converted  infidels  became  members  of  the  newly 
organized  church. 

The  declining  state  of  his  father's  health  recalled 
Mr.  Armstrong  to  New  Jersey,  in  1821.  In  the 
summer  of  that  year,  Bloomfield  was  blessed  with  a 
revival  of  religion,  and  Mr.  Armstrong  labored  in  it, 
with  much  zeal  and  success,  in  connection  with  the 
pastor,  the  Rev.  Gideon  N.  Judd.  Several  churches 
were  desirous  of  having  him  for  their  pastor.  He 
accepted  a  unanimous  call  from  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  and  labored 
there  with  faithfulness  and  success,  till  the  spring 
of  1824. 

When  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  H.  Rice  accepted  a 
professorship  in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  in 
Virginia,  and  left  the  pastoral  office  in  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  he 
recommended  Mr.  Armstrong  to  that  church,  as  their 
minister,  and  by  his  earnest  solicitation  he  was  in- 
duced to  accept  their  call.  They  to  whom  the  char- 
acter or  reputation  of  Dr.  Rice  are  familiar,  will 
regard  this  as  no  slight  testimony  in  favor  of  our 
beloved  friend.  For  ten  years  he  was  the  devoted, 
beloved,  and  successful  pastor  of  that  people,  of 
which  abundant  illustrations  might  be  given. 

The  synods  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  or- 
ganized a  Board  for  foreign  missions  in  the  spring 
of  1834,  with  a  view  to  missionary  labors  through 
the  agency  of  the  American  Board.  Mr.  Armstrong 
was  appointed  its  secretary  and  agent,  and  took  a 
dismission  from  the  church  in  Richmond.  Many 


21 


and  very  tender  were  the  ties  which  were  necessarily 
broken  by  this  event.  The  people  at  first  did  not 
believe  that  it  was  their  duty  to  make  so  great  an 
effort  as  it  would  cost  to  part  with  him  ;  but  in  view 
of  the  cause  to  be  promoted,  they  consented  in  a 
manner  honorable  to  themselves  and  to  the  gospel 
which  they  professed  to  love.  The  sacrifice  on  his 
part  and  that  of  his  family  was  great.  Those  who 
know  the  state  of  the  roads  in  Virginia,  at  certain 
seasons  of  the  year,  will  admire  the  self-denying 
spirit  of  the  man  who,  after  ten  years  experience  of 
the  comforts  of  a  city,  and,  as  one  calls  it,  "  the 
sweet  security  of  streets,"  willingly  subjected  him- 
self to  labors  and  perils,  day  and  night,  on  those 
wearisome  highways.  He  continued  in  this  service 
till  the  fall  of  1 835,  when  he  was  appointed  one  of 
the  Secretaries  for  Correspondence  of  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  and 
removed  to  Boston.  His  particular  department  of 
labor  was  the  home  correspondence.  In  1838,  in 
compliance  with  the  advice  of  the  Committee,  he 
removed  his  family  to  the  city  of  New  York,  ex- 
pecting to  return  to  Boston  after  two  or  three  years  ; 
but  considerations  connected  with  the  health  of  his 
family  prolonged  his  residence  there  till  his  death. 
Though  this  involved  a  considerable  modification  of 
his  official  duties,  he  was  most  fully  and  usefully 
employed.  His  great  delight  was  to  preach.  The 
Sabbath  usually  found  him  in  the  pulpit,  almost 
always  pleading  the  cause  of  missions ;  and  during 
the  week,  he  was  never  so  happy  as  in  present- 


22 


ing  the  cause  in  meetings  for  missionary  pur- 
poses. 

The  testimonials  are  abundant  with  respect  to  his 
uncommon  excellence  as  a  pastor.  His  labors  in  the 
ministry,  as  well  as  in  the  missionary  cause,  fre- 
quently seemed  excessive  ;  but  his  early  physical 
training  gave  him  uncommon  muscular  energy, 
which  enabled  him  to  work  for  twenty-eight  years 
with  remarkable  efficiency.  When  a  pastor,  the 
cause  of  missions  held  a  large  place  in  his  thoughts. 
Several  of  those  who  joined  the  church  under  his 
ministry  became  foreign  missionaries. 

A  friend  and  brother  in  the  ministry,  Mr.  Arm- 
strong's successor  at  Trenton,  writes  respecting 
him  as  follows  : — "  While  he  was  at  Trenton,  I 
often  listened  to  his  sermons,  and  there  was  no  man 
whom,  at  that  day,  I  heard  with  more  impression. 
His  discourses  were  carefully  prepared,  and  were 
pronounced  with  a  degree  of  warmth  and  emotion 
which  are  quite  unusual.  While  his  intonations 
were  far  from  being  rhetorically  perfect,  the  general 
result  of  so  much  truth,  uttered  with  so  much  ener- 
gy, could  not  fail  to  awaken  the  hearer's  mind.  My 
recollection  is  vivid  of  his  appeals  to  the  heart,  as 
being  of  a  high  order.  He  was  often  greatly  moved 
himself,  and  was  heard  by  numbers,  I  doubt  not,  to 
their  everlasting  good.  When,  at  a  later  period,  I 
was  called  to  labor  among  the  same  people,  I  found 
that  he  had  left  that  good  name,  which  is  better  than 
precious  ointment.  There  are  manifest  tokens  to 
his  faithfulness,  in  public  and  private  In  my 


23 


humble  judgment,  Dr.  Armstrong  was  a  felicitous 
sermonizer.  His  discourses  abounded  in  what  I 
may  be  allowed  to  call  fervid  argument.  They  were 
often  elaborate,  always  judicious,  always  unpretend- 
ing, and  sometimes  highly  pathetic.  Intense  feeling 
took  the  place  of  art." 

In  his  employment  as  Secretary  of  the  American 
Board,  he  was  eminently  faithful,  industrious,  and 
zealous.  No  man  loved  the  quiet  of  home  more 
than  he,  nor  sighed  more  for  rest  from  incessant 
change  ;  but  after  parting  with  Rev.  Messrs.  Spauld- 
ing  and  Scudder,  on  their  return  to  the  heathen,  he 
said,  "  I  prefer  to  live  and  die  in  this  work."  His 
earnest  desire  was  to  awaken  Christians  to  prayer 
and  effort  for  a  dying  world.  He  has  been  known 
to  go  into  the  office  of  one  of  the  religious  papers 
to  look  over  the  exchange  papers  in  search  for  intel- 
ligence of  revivals  of  religion,  knowing  that  love  for 
the  heathen  and  contributions  to  the  cause  of  mis- 
sions are  generally  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of 
piety  in  the  churches. 

His  zeal  for  the  heathen  grew  out  of  his  love  for 
his  fellow  men,  which  showed  itself  in  more  ways 
than  one.  When  in  Virginia,  he  was  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  slaves,  and  exerted  himself  much  for 
their  benefit,  and  in  efforts  for  the  peaceable  aboli- 
tion of  slavery.  His  well  known  zeal  in  this  cause 
nearly  cost  him  his  life.  He  was  once  waylaid  by 
two  men  who  were  opposed  to  his  views  and  feel- 
ings on  the  subject  of  slavery,  arid  received  from  one 
of  them  a  gash,  through  his  hat,  with  a  large  sharp 
weapon. 


24 


But  I  love  to  think  and  speak  of  him  as  a  man. 
Aside  from  our  respect  and  love  for  him  in  his  official 
relations,  the  hearts  of  all  of  us  flowed  forth  to  him 
as  a  good  man.  He  impressed  different  friends,  of 
course,  by  different  qualities  ;  but  one  thing  in  him 
was  peculiar  and  obvious  to  all  who  knew  him, — 
the  union  of  intense  feeling  with  mildness  of  de- 
meanor. I  have  seen  him,  in  public  speaking, 
roused  to  an  energy  of  feeling  w^hich  has  made  me 
think  how  well  it  was  that  such  strength  of  emotion 
was  controlled  by  religious  principles ;  in  private, 
however,  his  constant  smile,  and  his  gentle,  humble, 
conciliating  manner,  was  like  beautiful  waters  over 
volcanic  places,  imaging  the  heavens  above  them, 
but  concealing  the  depths  beneath.  The  impression 
has  been  made  on  my  own  mind  by  my  intercourse 
with  him,  that  he  must  naturally  have  had  much  to 
contend  with  in  the  strength  of  his  passions ;  but 
this  impression  has  been  made  only  by  the  strength 
of  his  religious  emotions,  and  by  some  instances  of 
great  control  over  his  feelings,  which  it  was  evident 
could  have  been  gained  only  by  one  who  had  found 
occasion  for,  and  had  practiced,  vigorous  self-disci- 
pline. He  was  a  lovely  and  pleasant  man.  He 
made  you  feel  that  he  loved  you  ;  and  you  involun- 
tarily loved  him.  He  was  the  delight  and  joy  of  his 
family  circle.  The  last  Sabbath  evening  of  his  life 
he  spent  in  hearing  his  children  recite  portions  of 
Scripture  and  the  Assembly's  Catechism.  It  seems 
to  have  been  the  mysterious  impression  in  that  fam- 
ily circle  that  their  rich  blessing  in  him  was  not 
long  to  continue. 


25 


I  will  not  analyze  his  character.  I  cannot  make 
a  cool  and  critical  estimate  of  his  several  talents. 
He  stands  before  me  as  a  holy,  humble,  self-denying, 
meek,  ardent,  affectionate  man.  He  has  taken  his 
place  in  our  hearts,  and  will  always  keep  it,  as  one 
who  deserves  and  has  secured  our  best  affections, 
our  deepest  respect,  and  our  most  tender  and  en- 
dearing recollections. 

And  is  he  gone  !  We  sat  with  him  in  the  Com- 
mittee meeting  the  Tuesday  afternoon  before  his 
death,  when  more  than  once  he  awakened  a  pleas- 
ctnt  smile  by  his  quiet  humor  and  happy  illustrations  ; 
and  the  next  Tuesday  evening  I  found  myself,  by 
appointment  of  the  Committee,  meditating  his  fu- 
neral sermon  !  Dear  associate,  brother,  friend  !  thy 
path  to  heaven  has  been  so  suddenly  made,  and  is 
yet  so  radiant  with  glory,  that  we  do  not,  we  can- 
not, feel  that  the  connection  between  thee  and  us  is 
severed.  May  we  never  feel  that  it  is  severed. 
We  cannot  think  of  thee  as  dead  !  Thou,  rather, 
art  the  living,  and  among  the  living ;  and  we  are 
among  the  dead. 

As  members  of  the  Committee  and  officers  of  the 
Board,  we  will  cherish  the  memory  of  thy  zeal,  thy 
fervent  spirit,  thine  exemplary  faith  and  patience,  thy 
amiable  disposition  and  conduct,  which  made  thee  a 
pleasant  associate  and  fellow-laborer.  We  desire  to 
fulfil  the  duties  of  our  office  in  a  manner  which  we 
think  would  receive  thy  present  commendation  and 
thy  future  congratulation. 
4 


26 


Brethren  in  the  ministry ;  friends  in  important 
places  of  trust ;  parents,  and  fellow  Christians  ! 
there  is  an  admonition  to  you  in  this  event,  pecul- 
iarly impressive.  You  see  in  the  removal  of  this 
friend  and  brother  that  no  usefulness,  no  supposed 
importance  in  your  life  to  the  cause  of  Christ  or 
to  the  happiness  of  others,  obtains  exemption  from 
death.  Office,  high  and  v  important  duties,  use- 
fulness, are  no  security  against  a  sudden  removal 
from  the  world.  God  is  dependent  on  no  man's 
talents  or  help.  Here  is  a  family,  consisting  of  a 
wife,  and  five  children  between  the  ages  of  six 
months  and  eighteen  years.  O  death !  relent,  and 
spare  that  husband  and  the  father  of  such  a  family ! 
The  inexorable  stroke  descends.  God  of  our  life ! 
we  own  thy  sovereign  control  over  us.  "  We  are 
consumed  by  thine  anger,  and  by  thy  wrath  are  we 
troubled."  In  the  language  of  the  common  law, 
"  a  man's  house  is  his  castle."  We  see  that  it  is  no 
defence  against  the  mandates  of  Him  who  openeth 
and  no  man  shutteth,  and  shutteth  and  no  man 
openeth." 

I  would  remark  to  my  reverend  fathers  and 
brethren  in  the  ministry,  that  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  divine  recognition  of  the  pastoral  office  and 
labors  of  our  deceased  friend  in  his  last  hours,  though 
he  had  not  been  for  many  years  a  pastor.  But 
while  a  pastor,  he  was  pre-eminently  faithful. 
He  loved  his  work,  he  loved  the  souls  of  men,  and 
preached  with  direct  reference  to  their  conversion. 
When  he  is  about  to  die,  God  seems  to  remember 


27 

V 

with  what  peculiar  zeal  he  thus  served  him,  and 
how  he  seemed  to  say,  on  leaving  the  pastoral  office 
for  the  missionary  work,  "  As  for  me  I  have  not 
hastened  from  being  a  pastor  to  follow  thee  "  ; — and 
accordingly  the  last  act  of  his  life  is  permitted  to  be 
a  direct  effort  to  save  souls.  He  begins  his  exhorta- 
tion in  the  cabin,  when,  lo !  his  voice  catches  the 
ear  of  one  at  a  distancfe,  who  recognizes  in  it  the 
voice  of  the  pastor  of  his  youth  !  It  seems  as  though 
it  were  a  testimony  of  remembrance  with  God  of 
past  faithfulness.  That  pastor's  voice  brought  with 
it,  to  the  mind  of  that  esteemed  survivor  of  the 
wreck,  a  throng  of  recollections  respecting  his  early 
and  subsequent  life.  Members  of  Christian  congre- 
gations, young  and  old  !  if  you  should  accidentally 
hear  your  pastor's  voice  amid  the  scenes  of  judg- 
ment, will  the  effect  of  it  be  joy  or  grief  with  you  ? 
That  voice  would  recall  scenes  and  impressions 
that  would  thrill  you  with  pleasure,  or  make 
almost  superfluous  your  dreadful  sentence  from 
your  Judge. 

He  is  gone  to  that  great  cloud  of  witnesses,  who 
are  above  us  and  round  about  us.  He  has  realized 
the  anticipation  of  one  of  his  predecessors, — Mr. 
Evarts, — expressed  in  that  most  striking  exclama- 
tion upon  his  dying  bed,  Oh,  the  face  of  God  ! 
He  has  seen  Christ,  whom  not  having  seen  he  loved. 
He  has  seen  the  multitude  which  no  man  can  num- 
ber, out  of  every  nation  and  kindred  and  tongue  and 
people.    He  has  been  welcomed  by  his  predecessors 


28 


in  office,  two  of  whom  at  least  died  like  him,  away 
from  home,  in  the  discharge  of  their  official  duties  ; 
Worcester  among  the  Cherokees,  and  Cornelius  at 
Hartford,  Connecticut.^  This  work  of  missions 
fills  up,  in  the  bodies  of  those  who  enter  fully  into 
its  active  labors  among  the  churches  at  home,  that 
which  is  behind  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ."  Perils 
in  the  wilderness,  and  perils  in  the  city,  and  perils 
in  the  sea,  to  say  no  more,  must  be  the  lot  of  those 
to  whom  is  intrusted  the  work  of  inciting  us  to  do 
our  duty  to  the  heathen. 

But  with  our  departed  brother,  all  is  rest,  and 
peace,  and  reward.  Among  the  redeemed  I  fancy 
that  he  looks  with  peculiar  interest  on  the  converts 
from  heathenism.  There  are  the  bondmen  of 
Africa,  kings  and  priests  unto  God.    In  more  than 

barbaric  pearl  and  gold  "  is  the  poor  dweller  by 
the  Ganges  and  the  Burrampooter.  There  the 
American  Indian  adores  Him  who  is  "  more  glorious 
and  excellent  than  the  mountains  of  prey."  Kings' 
daughters,  from  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  Tahiti, 
are  among  the  "  honorable  women."  At  Christ's 
right  hand  is  that  Madagascar  queen.  The  op- 
pressed mountaineer  of  Lebanon,  the  persecuted 
Armenian,  are  where  the  wicked  cease  from 
troubling  and  the  weary  are  at  rest."  The  Persian 
worships  a  brighter  Sun  than  that  which  rises  on 
flowery  Ispahan.  The  men  of  Burmah  and  Siam 
wonder  forever  at  the  grace  which  raised  them  from 


*  Mr.  Evarts  was,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  Charleston,  South  CaroUna, 
having  been  for  some  time  out  of  health. 


29 


their  native  debasement.  Our  brother  felt  himself  a 
debtor  to  the  Jew  and  the  Greek  ;  he  sees  them 
both  there  ;  and  a  sweeter  savor  to  God  than  that 
"  o'er  Ceylon's  isle,"  is  he  by  whose  efforts,  in  part, 
salvation  has  been  flowing  forth  to  the  Tamil  people. 
The  old  Nestorian  church  has  brought  forth  fruit  in 
old  age,  some  of  which  is  gathered  unto  eternal  life. 
The  Chinese  sees  his  wall  of  separation  exchanged 
for  a  wall  within  which  he  walks  with  the  nations 
of  them  that  are  saved."  To  look  on  such  a  sight 
for  one  hour,  is  an  ample  recompense  for  the  toil 
and  suffering  by  which  that  glory  and  bliss  have 
been  prepared.  What,  then,  must  eternity  in 
heaven  be  ! 

When  I  think  that  he  has  seen  our  King,  and 
"  the  meat  of  his  table,  and  the  attendance  of  his 
ministers  and  their  apparel,  and  the  ascent  by 
which"  they  go  up  to  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 
there  is  no  more  spirit  in  me,  not  only  at  the 
thought  of  what  he  has  seen,  but  of  our  nearness  to 
it,  and  our  sure  inheritance  with  him,  ere  long,  of 
that  unutterable  glory  and  joy  ! 

Courage,  then,  ye  dear,  faithful  missionaries  of 
the  cross ;  beloved  fellow-laborers,  every  where,  in 
the  kingdom  and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ ;  associates 
in  the  labors  and  cares  of  this  work !  One  of  our 
number  has  just  been  parted  from  us,  and  taken  up 
into  heaven.  W e  have  followed  him  with  our  voices 
and  tears  of  mingled  sadness  and  love  ;  we  have 
followed  him  to  heaven.  Let  us  return,  like  the 
disciples,  to  our  labor,  and  may  I  not  add,  "  with 
great  joy." 


30 


Just  before  the  dreadful  crisis  on  board  the 
Atlantic,  it  is  said  the  passengers  shook  hands  with 
each  other ;  and  thus  thej  parted,  for  the  terrible 
and  solitary  contest  which  every  one  of  them  was 
about  to  have  for  his  life.  As  we  separate  here, 
first  for  the  work  of  Christ,  and  then  to  meet  in 
heaven,  let  us  pledge  our  hearts  and  hands  to  one 
another,  and  to  all  the  beloved  missionaries  round 
the  globe,  and  to  "  all  who,  in  every  place,  call  on 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  both  theirs  and  ours." 
Let  us  feel  that  we  are  all  embarked  in  the  same 
ship,  with  a  common  peril ;  that  we  must  all  be 
cast  into  the  weaves  of  death ;  that  the  world,  and 
all  that  is  therein,  must  be  destroyed,  and  that  our 
proper  business  is  to  save  our  own  souls  and  the 
souls  of  others. 

Welcome,  then,  toil  and  peril,  for  Christ's  sake, 
and  for  the  souls  of  men,  for  a  little  season.  Fare- 
well, for  a  little  season,  dear  brother,  and  we  will 
meet  you  where  there  is  no  more  sea.  "  Precious 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,"  and  precious  to  his 
people,  has  been  thy  death  !  Till,  with  our  work 
finished,  we  are  summoned  home  ;  till,  with  songs 
and  everlasting  joy  upon  our  heads  we,  Avith  the 
ransomed,  come  to  Zion  ;  till  we  meet  and  mingle 
with  thee  in  the  worship  and  the  friendships,  the 
recollections  and  the  anticipations,  of  heaven,  fare- 
well, dear  brother  and  friend,  farewell ! 


I 


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